


Don't Carry That Weight

by ScarletLoup



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Family, Fluff, just a quick sweet one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 01:30:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16546235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletLoup/pseuds/ScarletLoup
Summary: Rebuilding an entire planet is hard work, and Tali'Zorah feels the brunt of it. Garrus offers some comfort in this trying time.





	Don't Carry That Weight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [drladybird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drladybird/gifts).



Rannoch at this time in the year became darker much sooner than Tali’Zorah was used to, having spent her life aboard ships which failed to account for the shifting position of sun and planet. In fact, she had never spent more than a few fleeting days on a planet before she made the decision to return to Rannoch. In the years since Shepard had made the ultimate sacrifice, the quarians had scrambled to catch up with the rest of the Milky Way. As other planets rebuilt, Rannoch began almost from scratch. But with the geth to help, there were more hands to complete the work.

To many, Rannoch felt far less like a home and more like a lost cause. But Tali’Zorah had fallen in love with the planet since the first she had landed all of those years ago with Shepard. Though hundreds of years had changed the planet just enough to keep the quarians confined to their suits for quite some time, Tali had been one of the first to discard her suit and embrace the atmosphere of Rannoch.

Before then, she had never truly felt the wind on her skin or the sun in her face, and she often took time on these early Rannoch evenings to plant herself in the area immediately outside of her home to bask in those last few minutes of sunlight. She couldn’t help but brush her three-fingered hand along her arm, feeling the warmth that the sunlight left.

“You’re so beautiful in this light,” a voice purred from behind. Tali turned quickly, her wide eyes darting upward to meet Garrus’s gaze. Garrus – the only man she had been able to bring herself to love since…well, she didn’t like to think of it. He eyes grew misty for a moment just looking at him, but she refused to brush at her eyes lest she rub a foreign particle into them. Old habits never truly died. A few quick blinks, and her tears had disappeared. She quickly shuffled to the side and pressed the ground next to her in an invitation for Garrus to sit beside her.

“You’re quiet,” he remarked as he took the spot on the ground beside her. Out of his armor, the turian was a much less physically intimidating being. Tall and gangly, he looked more like an emaciated lizard than Tali had expected. She reached up and gently stroked at the ridge around his neck. His jaw flexed slightly, and he let out a soft sound of contentment.

“I am tired,” she replied softly, letting herself fall into the soft of his shoulder, a spot she had discovered was free of the crests and spikes of his species. Garrus raised a hand slowly and brushed his fingers against her scalp before pulling her into him gently. He attempted to press a kiss into her forehead – a very human gesture that he knew she associated with Shepard and, thus, with love. Though he was as soft as possible, she winced slightly at the sharpness of his jawpieces. “I wonder how he would have done what I am doing – he always knew what to do.”

Garrus did not need her to elaborate, for there was only one other man she spoke of. A breath passed through his jaw pieces slowly as he dropped his hand and, instead, sought to hold her hand in his.

“He would have done exactly what you’re doing.” Garrus looked out at the growing metropolis only a while off. It had only been a few years, but Rannoch was slowly becoming a force to rival the home planets of the galaxy’s other species. Certainly, Rannoch had already overtaken his own home of Palaven which struggled to rebuild in the aftermath of the Reaper attack. “I’d venture to say he’d be quite impressed with what you’ve done.”

Tali turned her head upward slightly as though to gauge his expression before she glanced off to the side. Close by, two geth worked together on the foundations of a new home. Since Tali had first had ground broken on her house, the area had become in high demand. To live next to two heroes was an honor that many were willing to move out of the slowly growing city for.

The geth turned their heads in unison as though they felt Tali’s piercing gaze. A moment of hesitation ensued before the two figures slowly raised their right hands and waved. It was unnerving, but Tali had spent enough time with Legion to know they were all part of a single hivemind. But it was still unsettling, and she couldn’t help but shudder slightly and turn her head away slightly.

“What was he thinking when he let them stay here?” she hissed, her brow knotting angrily. “They made us leave – and they’ll do it again, I know they will.” She gave a slight huff.

“Hey,” Garrus started, giving her hand a slight squeeze. “If Shepard could trust them, you can too, right?” He slowly stood up, tugging gently on her hand to pull her up to her feet. From his height, he had a much better view of the plains that stretched before their home. A while off, he could see two small figures scuffling in the dirt – a young human and a juvenile turian. The two chattered as they played some game of chasing each other and pantomiming shooting blasters at each other. The geth stopped their work to watch the children running about, but the children seemed to have little or no care for the robots near them.

“If not for you, do it for them.” Garrus looked back down at her and gave her hand a squeeze once more. “Do it for Shepard.” He turned and gently pulled her into an embrace which she returned forcefully.

“I wish he were here. I don’t know how to help my people.” She whispered against his chest plate.

Still embracing her, Garrus looked out over the plains of Rannoch and watched the children as they scampered back home towards their parents. He smiled at the children, his heart warming at the sight of them – his children, Tali’s children.

“It won’t be easy for a while. But I don’t know a single person who is better equipped to rebuild this planet.”


End file.
